


Anomaly Detected

by SilentSiren



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Crime, Drama, F/F, Fluff, Half of this is just Maggie loopy on morphine TBH, Humor, Romance, this was supposed to be a 500 word drabble and whoops it has chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2018-10-20 13:28:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10663596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentSiren/pseuds/SilentSiren
Summary: They said despite the round being low-velocity that Maggie was lucky to be alive, with thanks to the stranger who stopped and called in the shooting. Alex fears she's losing her mind as she struggles to come to terms with her emotions, in particular with regards to Maggie. J'onn and the NCPD go head-to-head over who will handle the investigation and Kara does what she can to help everyone around her. What they don't realise is that the threat to Maggie's life hasn't passed, it isn't over yet and they'll all have to work together if they want to see justice.





	1. I Can't Bae Without You

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by the sentence "What if she doesn't make it?" that was part of a drabble I read, deciding to expand on the emotional response of that, wanting to write a few of my own experiences, having way too much time on my hands and working through a few things myself.  
> Chapter title credits to the Captain for the pun.

Alex paces back forth around the small hospital waiting room- thankfully devoid of anyone besides herself and Kara- for the seventh time in the last two hours. She unconsciously gnaws on her bottom lip while she moves and tries to make sense of her emotions.

“What if she doesn’t make it? Oh god,” Alex doesn’t recognise the raw panic that rises quickly inside her, doesn’t know the threat is poses it to her, “oh god what if she doesn’t make it?!” Alex whirls around on Kara, now dressed in plain clothes and with her glasses on, “I- I don’t know what, I don’t think I-”

Kara stands up from her seat and wraps her arms around her sister tightly, rubbing her back to try and soothe her, “You’ll get through this Alex, you both will.” She wants to say ‘I promise’ but she’s not sure she can promise on Maggie’s life right now.

Alex can't stop the little mantra in her head screaming ‘ _What if she doesn’t make it?’_ and her body is shaking even as tries her best to hold everything in and stamp down on her rampaging emotions. She pulls out of Kara’s embrace, needing to pace, needing to move and briefly wondering if this is how fish feel needing to move in order to live.

“What happened?” Kara asks, hesitating at first to even ask.

“I wasn’t there,” Alex pauses her pace for a brief moment as she gestures in front of her and then continues pacing the small waiting area, “I mean why would I be we were both at work and sure sometimes we team up and work together but it just didn’t line up today and this wasn’t even about work it was random and and-” her feet stop again and her words speed up but her thoughts slow down, merging from three separate trains of thought down to the recollection of the phone call she received.

 

_A private number shows up on her phone and for a moment she debated not answering it, “Danvers.”_

_Special Agent Alex Danvers?”_

_"Speaking, who is this?”_

_“I’m Captain Alison from NCPD calling on behalf of Detective Margaret Sawyer-” Alex’s thoughts pause along with the captain’s words and she unknowingly holds her breath. J’onn looks over Alex with questioning concern. “Ma’am I’m sorry to inform you       that Detective Sawyer has been rushed to hospital after an unrelated shooting downtown.”_

_Alex closes her eyes and her body jolts just once as she suppresses the tears threatening to overwhelm her. She doesn’t want to cry in the middle of the DEO.  Alex draws a slow, deep breath and then removes her hand from her mouth but she can’t keep     the shakes out of her voice, “Where-where is-?”_

_“ NCGH. I trust you are familiar with it?”_

_“Unfortunately, as is the nature of our work. Thank you I’ll be right there.” She hangs up and just manages to catch the Captain wishing them the best as she looks over at J’onn but he already knows. Even if he hadn’t heard the short conversation through       the phone or Alex’s few screaming thoughts the look on her face said it all._

_“Go.” He gives her permission to leave and then calls a team together to find out what happened on the streets as Alex runs through their offices._

 

“Alex? Slow down, it’s okay.”

Alex shakes her head, pulling back from her thoughts, “It’s not, I’m not okay, Maggie’s not- we’re not okay. She- she was shot and they told me they rushed her here and-” _what if she doesn’t make it?_ She pauses for a moment as she realises, “oh god I don’t even know what happened, I haven’t even seen her and I’m-” _losing it. What if I lose Maggie? I’m going to lose Maggie. I can’t. I can’t deal with that, I can’t lose her but I am, the doctor-_

Alex barely registers her quickening breath because there’s an unbridled panic stampeding her heart and it feels like someone has torn her rib-cage apart, plunged their hand through her chest and began squeezing her heart, fingernails digging into the vulnerable organ. She forces herself to put her thoughts on Maggie into the background to try and reign in her body’s responses. Alex puts a hand to her chest as if reassuring herself that the skin isn’t broken means her heart will stop screaming its agony. Looking down at her hand she rubs the fabric beneath the pads of her fingers and realises she can’t feel it.

Kara takes it all in, making particular note that Alex has admitted she’s not okay rather than insisting she’s fine and can handle it. Despite the situation, she proud of her sister for admitting how she feels and leaning on her for help. “We’ll figure it out and we’ll find who did this okay? J’onn has already put together a team to investigate and they’re working together with NCPD and they-Alex?” She cuts herself off when Alex’s strange behaviour continues and she doesn’t look at her or seem to respond to what she’s saying.

Alex raises her other hand in front of her face, staring at it with widened eyes she flexes her fingers and registers its numbness. Forgetting it she tries to check in with the rest of her body but it only makes everything worse as she really takes note of everything that’s happening to her. Her stomach tightens into writhing knots, nausea rearing like a bull at a rodeo and she worries she’s going to be sick. But as she takes a step forward in search of a bathroom or bin she finds her feet sluggish and unresponsive. Numb. Alex manages to stay upright though she has no idea how as it dawns on her that most of her body is losing its feeling and with it, control of her own body.

“Alex? Talk to me.”

Alex barely hears Kara for how far away she sounds over the sound of her own now hyperventilating breath. She tries to slow it down, tries to force slow, calm, deep breaths but it’s beyond her now. _Maggie please don’t die, please, please, I don’t think my heart can take t, it feels like I’m going to be crushed or torn apart and I think I’m losing my mind. Oh god_ ! Her whole body constricts in pain and she gasps, arms around herself to try and protect herself from the onslaught, she opens her eyes but doesn’t see anything. “It hurts,” she breathes out and her mind is racing again. Racing with Maggie, the numbness in her body, visions of Maggie lying dead on a hospital bed, her heart physically breaking, Maggie lying in the street bleeding out- _Oh God I can't breathe-_ , her body screaming ‘pain!’, a dark coffin on a trolley over red carpet. Her sight darkening around the edges and spotting everywhere, a funeral, her body out of control, returning to her empty apartment and finding it no longer her home, her mind moving too fast for her to concentrate on anything when everything was flying around her so quickly. _What is happening to me!_  She’s not sure if she thinks it or screams it but have the time to answer it.

Alex collapses.  

She's vaguely aware of her surroundings despite her lack of sight, touch, hearing, feeling… She knows she's fallen in the hospital in the middle of the walkway but decides she'd rather inconvenience everyone than risk standing back up. It takes Alex a moment to realise that her heart rate and breathing are back under control, the wild panic she was feeling moments before has dissipated to a manageable muffled roar.  The cramping pain that gripped her with nausea has subsided and the wrench around her heart, slackened. She focuses on her breath and checks in with each one of her senses starting with her sight. Alex doesn't see anything but is strangely calm as she moves on to test her touch.  She thinks she raises her arm but she's not certain.

“Ms Danvers can you hear me?” _I_ _heard that!_ It sounds as though the person is on a distant mountain top but Alex assumes they are right in front of her.

“Alex?”

“Kara?”

She misses the sigh of relief that comes her sister.

A light is shining in her eyes but she sees it between the patches of darkness, “Ow, bright,” she mumbles closing her eyes to shield them and turning her head away. The first thing she sees is probably upon reopening her eyes is feet, her sister's and two pairs of white runners.   _I wonder how fast they ran for me. Was it as fast as I did for Maggie?_  Alex regrets the thought as soon as it's passed through her head, bringing with it a wave of sadness and worry. Chair legs. She saw them before but it only just clicks that with the orientation of them she must be on the chair. _Kara must have moved me._

“What can you feel Ms Danvers?”

Her eyes sight clears up rapidly bringing on a bout of dizziness. The woman before her is older, perhaps in her fifties, dressed semi-formally under her white lab coat and her name tag reads “DR. B WILLIS” in bold black font. Her companion is a much younger male, dressed a little too casually, and Alex assumes, given this and the temporary paper name reading “JOSHUA” stuck on his chest, that he is an intern or student on placement.

“Not much. I can see now and my hearing is clearing up but I don't have feeling in my arms or lower body,” Alex responds calmly.  

The boy pulls out a small notepad and pen from his jeans pocket and scribbles something in it.

“Okay, do you have a history with seizures or epilepsy?”

“No. “

“Have you ever fainted before?”

Alex hesitates, “Sort of, once.” she ignores the blush creeping along her neck and up her cheeks.

“Have you ever had an experience like this before?”

“No.”

“Any history of anxiety?”

“No.”

“Low blood pressure or diabetes?”

“No.”

“Okay,” Willis responds gently and pulls her hand away from Alex wrist, which she hadn't noticed was there before. She looks into her eyes and asks with genuine concern, “How do you feel?”

“Uhh…  I’m okay, I’m not sure what just happened but I'm okay now I feel a lot better than I did a few minutes ago.” Alex raises her left arm slightly out from her side, “You can take this off now I feel fine.” Willis gives her a scolding look that says ‘I'm the doctor here, not you’ but after a beat removes the blood pressure device from her arm, “What's the number?”

“Lower than we'd like but given the details your sister gave us I'd say you had a panic attack and a rather severe one at that.”

Alex almost scoffs but she hasn't anything to counter with so she says simply, “I don't have panic attacks.”

“First time for everything Love,” Willis rises and thinks a moment before speaking, “I reckon I know the answer but I'll ask it anyways; I'd like to run a few tests to make sure there are no lasting side effects.”

“Technically that isn't a question,” Alex starts, flexing her fingers to try and wiggle feeling back into them, “but no I don't want any tests.”

“Alex are you sure?” Kara questions, “You're really pale.”

“Kara I'm okay, I promise. I can see, hear, speak, and I can feel most of my body again, it's coming back slowly.”

“Alrighty then,” Willis looks between the two women, “let us know if you need anything else.”

“Thank you,” Kara responds and Willis nods before walking away, her second shadow in tow a moment later, “You really gave me a fright there.”

“Yeah me too. That was… mildly terrifying.” _Understatement of the year._ “But I'm okay now, I actually feel pretty calm-still worried for Maggie of course, I really don't want to lose her-”

“Of course,” Kara agrees.

“But I think my brain has sorted itself out now and worked out all the uh, freak out.” She really didn't want to use the word ‘panic’ but the more she thought about it the more it made sense. It didn't lessen how terrifying the experience of her body making up sensations that weren't really there was, but having an explanation helped ease her mind from the unknown. Even if she didn't like it.

Kara moves to sit the chair beside her, “What happened?” she whispers.

“I don't really know how to explain it, I just sort of lost control over my body and my senses faded away. My heart felt like it was put in a vice, slowly being closed tighter and tighter and my stomach was tying itself in complex knots mixed with the sensation of being stabbed.” she dared not mention that she had direct experience to draw the parallel with. “I couldn't figure out what was going on and then everything just kind of… stopped for a few seconds and then when I would think clearly again it all backed off and my senses started to return. Both figuratively and literally I guess,” Alex gave a small laugh.  

Kara returned with a sympathetic smile and rubbed her sister's back before settling her head on her shoulder, “Are you going to be okay? I've never seen you like this before.”

“Well I don't plan on it happening again. Yeah, I'll be okay,” Alex flexes her hand in front of her face like she did before and then rests it on Kara’s shoulder, “See?  Full mobility again.” She decided to leave out that she wasn't quite sure she could stand or walk just yet but was confident she'd regain full feeling soon.

“Okay.”

Silence falls between them, Kara watching Alex closely out of the corner of her eye and Alex wiggling her toes and fingers. They don’t end up moving until hours later when a doctor appears calling for family of Margaret Sawyer.


	2. Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don’t usually write long stuff unless I’m a little messed up (so that’s concerning) but regardless of my own wellbeing I came up with a rough 11 chapter plan, but, had a lot of trouble writing this chapter.  
> Not sure if everything will get posted in the end, depends how long my feels hang around for I guess (and if I run out of data) but chapter 3 was written before this was, so, there's that!

When J’onn walks onto the scene of the crime he finds the NCPD are already there, yellow tape strung up on both ends of the alley and officers milling about with their assigned tasks. He ignores the tape, ducking under it and then pausing to assess the situation.

“Whoa whoa whoa, sir, please get behind the tape.” An officer stands up from where he is studying the dumpsters and starts towards him, urging him to move back. 

“Hank Henshaw, FBI.” J’onn holds up his badge briefly and puts it away again.

“FBI? What’s your business here?”

“This where Detective Sawyer was shot?” J’onn scans his immediate surroundings, noting nothing of obvious significance besides the blood pool and a few scattered evidence markers.  _ Doesn't look too lethal, at least from this side of things. But it's what's on the inside that counts. _

“Yes. A  _ detective, _ which makes this an NCPD matter. Now please, step back behind the line.” He gestures to the tape with a gloved hand. 

“Who’s your superior?” 

“Right now, Captain Alison.” He questions why he's even answering that. 

“Then I need to speak to Captain Alison, excuse me.” J’onn goes to move past the officer. 

The officer blocks him from moving forward, “She’s not here right now, you can find her at the station.” 

J’onn doesn’t believe him for a second because he’s caught the eye of the woman not engaged in evidence collection, who also happens to be giving him the side eye… and bearing captain rank slides on her shoulders, “Is that so?” 

The Captain steps towards the two when J’onn doesn't leave and tells her officer to stand down, “It’s alright Jenkins, I’ll handle this. FBI huh? Henshaw was it?” 

“That’s correct Captain Alison.” 

“You don’t have jurisdiction here. This isn’t a federal case, one of my detectives was shot which makes this very much, an NCPD matter.”

“Your officer said the exact same thing.” 

“He’s right.”

“You’re both right, it’s very much a local case but we want to help.”

“What’s your interest in this?” Alison crosses her arms, firm and definitely curious, and J’onn for a moment, is reminded of Alex. 

“We’ve worked with NCPD a few times in the past as you may be aware, Detective Sawyer is good at her job and we want to make sure that who person did this is found and brought to justice.” 

“Huh, so Sawyer’s made some friends in some higher places. That’s great, send her a card she’s in National City General, but you’re not taking my crime scene.” 

“I’m aware, one of my agents is there right now. You called her.” 

Captain Alison uncrosses her arms as she immediately understands, “Alex Danvers. That’s why you’re really here.” and puts her hands on her hips.

“No Ma’am I’m here for Maggie Sawyer. Alex Danvers happens to be the connection.”

“You’re still not taking my crime scene. Back behind the line please, or are we going to have a problem?” 

“No, no problem,” J’onn raises his hands in a gesture of peace, recognizing he's not going to anywhere, and taking a small step back, “Have a great day.” He turns around and leaves, ducking under the tape and leaving the crime scene but not walking away. Not even close. 

J’onn makes his away around the building and down a few more before-checking the area for witnesses- flying to the rooftops and watching the scene from above. He waits there, occasionally pacing out of sheer boredom, till darkness falls. Just as he's about to jump down when he receives a message. It's a two word text from Alex; Maggie's stable. He's relieved, pockets the phone and then leaps off the building. Taking a slow walk down the crime scene now devoid of officers J’onn looks for any evidence NCPD might have missed. He’s careful not to disturb anything as he moves through, checking inside each of the bins. 

J’onn is barely there a minute when a light is shon on him, “You there! Hand’s up where I can see them!” 

J’onn turns slowly, with his hands raids, “Easy now, I’m FBI, I’m going to show you my badge.” 

The officers, one male and one female, keep their service weapons trained on him as he slowly reaches back for the badge, “Captain said you might be returning.” He responds and upon verifying the badge lowers his weapons. 

“Call it in, I’ll make sure he doesn’t run,” The female officer says, stepping under the tape. 

“Why would I run? I’m right where I want to be.” J’onn questions. 

“This is an internal police matter, what’s FBI want with a case like this?” 

“That’s above your pay grade.” He steps towards the yellow tape, “If you don’t mind, I need to make a phone call.” The officer follows him, wary and J’onn pulls out his phone again and dials. “Good evening, I need you to do me a favor if you have a moment. The Captain of NCPD is on her way to meet me at the crime scene and I could use your help, would you be able to intercept her and bringing her? I think we all need to have a little talk.” He sends off a text with the location of the scene.

“Was that a threat?” The male officer asks, sizing himself to J’onn with one hand on his holster.

“If I was threatening you, you’d know about it.” He responds calmly and leans back against the wall, waiting. It doesn’t take long, after all Kara can break the sound barrier when she wants to. 

A little blue sedan is carefully placed in front of them on the road and Supergirl lands, opening the door she address the Captain, “I’m sorry if I scared you, I thought this would be faster.” 

The Captain doesn’t respond immediately but shakily exits her car and makes her way over to her officers and J’onn with Supergirl beside her, regaining her composure, “Don’t tell me, you know Detective Sawyer too?” 

“Yes, I’ve worked with her a few times actually.” 

They’ve made it to the sidewalk and Captain Alison speaks, intending to set the record straight once and for all,  “Supergirl you’ve done a lot for us and we appreciate that but we’re not handing over our investigation to the FBI.”

“I’m not asking you to but we do want to help. I admire and value each and every one of your officers, you’re all so brave and dedicated to protecting this city.” She address the Captain and the officers, “You’re all heroes, everyday. Every morning you get up and are prepared to put your lives on the line for the sake of others and if that doesn’t make a hero then I don’t know what does. I’ve worked with Maggie before and she’s a brilliant detective, caring and strong for she’s a hero too. She goes out everyday to help save the city and I think we all want to see her shooter brought to justice. I’m not here tonight to try and take the case away from you Captain, I’m here to lend a hand both now and anytime an officer of your ranks goes down. Hank knows how to find me when you need me.” 

J’onn speaks up, “I want to offer you the full support of the FBI; personnel, gear, equipment. I believe we have better resources that we can offer your department in this time of need. We only want to help.” 

All eyes are on Captain Alison now. 

She thinks it over carefully, they could use assistance but she doesn't want to lose control of the investigation,“Alright, we could always use more help but I want it understood that we’re leading the investigation and anyone of your team that are in the field need to report to me.” 

“Understood.” J’onn agrees “How can we help?”

“Just so you know, my officers working this case are all personally invested, it was one their own that was shot and that makes this personal for them. On top of that, each one of the members on my team knows Detective Sawyer personally and they want to see this through.”

“We’re invested too,” Supergirl responds gently. 

“Likewise my team all know Maggie too, there was almost a stampede heading for the hospital because they wanted to be there to support her and know that she’s okay.” J’onn adds. 

“Have you heard word from the hospital?” Supergirl asks, unsure of how filled in they are.

It’s J’onn who speaks, “Alex said Maggie’s stable.” 

“That’s a relief,” Captain Alison says, “Is she conscious?” 

“Not currently.” Supergirl aswers and notices the Captain’s strange look, “I sorta, flew by there on my way over, I wanted to see how she was doing.” 

“How bad is it?” Captain Alison asks. 

“Broken rib and punctured liver, she’s going to be out of action for a while.” 

A silence lapses and for a moment there is nothing but cold breaths of air between them.

“Does Detective Sawyer have many enemies?” J’onn asks to bring the conversation back on track.

“Honestly it sounds like you've worked with her more than I have. But we keep a record of every threat that's ever made and I have someone looking into it. Look, if we’re going to be working together then you need to know that there wasn’t a lot of evidence recovered.”

“Would you mind if I had a team come down and take a look?” J’onn asks. 

“No, go for it. At this point I’m hoping we missed something because we don’t have anything to go on.” Captain Alison points to the CCTV camera on the corner of the building, “We talked to the manager and she said the cameras are just for show, they’ve never worked because they can’t afford to run them or finish the installation. And this building,” she points to the one of the left of the alley “has been scheduled for demolition for about six months. We canvassed the area but if anyone saw anything, they're not talking.”

“Any other cameras around?” Supergirl asks. 

“Maybe you can find another camera in the area but unless the surrounding buildings freely volunteer their footage we have no way of lawfully knowing if they have caught anything.” Captain Alison replies. 

“One of our tech guys is already looking into it,” J’onn promises and the Captain just nods, “Who called in the crime? Where there any witnesses?” 

“A passerby on his way to work, a Thomas Grady, said he heard a gunshot,” Alison points down the street behind her, “came running,” she gestured along the footpath, “and found Detective Sawyer there, unconscious.” she points to the dry blood pool, “Grady says he didn’t see anyone besides the detective, and the call came in from his cell. There’s just one problem.” 

“What’s that?” Supergirl asks. 

“Grady says Sawyers’ holster was empty when he arrived and we haven’t recovered Sawyer’s service weapon. We checked his person and car, he seems clean and he was very forthcoming with the details so we don’t believe he took it. Also, we only found one casing and we know where that bullet went…. Which means she never got a shot off.”

J’onn ponders this new information, crossing his arms. Supergirl asks, “Is it possible that the paramedics might have picked it up?”

“No. For one, while they may not be crime scene investigators, they know basic evidence preservation, and secondly her firearm wasn’t in the evidence they gave us.” 

“So the perp picked it up,” the female officer answered when no one else would say it aloud. 

Captain Alison nods her confirmation, “Afraid so.”

“Is it possible Detective Sawyer knew her attacker?” the male officer asks. 

“I’m standing here with an alien from another planet- no offence,” Alison quickly adds, “you do great work most of the time. Anything’s possible but we won’t know for sure until Sawyer wakes up and we can ask her directly.” 

“Anything else?” J’onn asks. 

“I think that about covers it at this stage, but here,” Captain Alison pulls out a business card from her police jacket and hands it to him, “keep in touch.” 

J’onn takes it and hands her one of his own, “Let us know if anything else pops up.” She nods and they shake hands. 

There’s brief pause and then the Captain speaks again, “Well, if that is all then we’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” 

“Indeed. Have a good night.” J’onn replies evenly. 

Alison gives a curt nod and the little group disbands, the Captain returning to her car, the officers returning to theirs and J’onn pulls Kara aside to speak to her. 

“Before you go I wanted to talk to you about Alex. We both know how close her and Maggie are but I don’t want her to be a part of this investigation, she can’t keep her emotions out of it and I don’t think it’s a very good idea for her to potentially end up in the same room as the ratbag who did this.” 

“I agree.” She hasn’t forgotten Alex’s dirty, heavy handed tactics and how easily she will push aside rules, regulations and her own morals if she senses she’s losing control of a situation that threatens those she cares about.

“I’m not asking you to lie to her, she’s your sister by all means keep her in the loop, but see if you can get through to her?”

“I’ll do what I can.” And with that,  she's shooting off into the sky, inbound for Alex's apartment. It only takes her a minute to get there and she speeds through the unlocked window, hoping that no one sees her enter. 

Kara pauses for a moment, looking around the neatly kept apartment and then closes the windows. She moves through to Alex's bedroom and pulls out the bag she knows Alex keeps handy for emergencies like this one,  placing it on the bed she unzips it. Kara checks it's contents and finds clothes enough for a few days, a basic first aid kit, a toiletries bag, paracord, half a roll of ductape, a whistle and a combat knife. Leaving everything inside she moves to Alex's wardrobe and pulls out a few extra sets of clothes, choosing comfort and warmth and practicality. Once placed, Kara meanders over to the pantry and tugs open its doors, studying it's content and pulling on her bottom lip.  

There's not a whole lot there that is portable, ready to eat food but she knows Alex  _ has  _ to have some muesli or protein bars for those mornings when she's run out of time after her run to make something substantial. After shuffling half of the items around Kara eventually pulls out a box with a triumphant “A-ha! Knew it.” and proceeds to empty the box onto the kitchen counter. She throws the box into the recycling and then bundles all the bars into her arms and manages to get them all into the bag in a single trip.  

Kara picks up the bag and is almost out the door before she remembers she's still in her Supergirl outfit. She looks down at herself and then over to Alex's wardrobe and decides she can probably find something that fits her taste and will save her from making a trip to her apartment. 

In a flash Kara has changed and is out the door. She keeps an eye out for witnesses as she moved along the darkened streets of National City. The buses don't run frequently at this hour if the night, she's well aware, but between flying down the empty streets and her brisk pace in between she makes it back to the hospital in under 20 minutes. 

While making her way to the elevators Kara ponders how best to keep Alex out of the investigation. Should she appeal to justice and point out her involvement would be a conflict of interest? Appeal to her loyalty as her sister and ask her to trust in her, the DEO and NCPD?  Or perhaps her own emotions in light of her earlier reactions. 

Kara exits the lift and moves down the quiet corridor, almost colliding with two nurses as they leave Maggie's room.  She finds Alex sitting by the detective, a spare bed now taking up most of the spare room. 

“Alex?” she calls. 

“Kara, you're back! How'd it go, what happened?”

“Yeah, good, the DEO and NCPD are working together now. Oh, I brought your bag and added a few things to it that I thought you might need.”

“Kara, you're the best!” Alex hugs her sister and then takes the bag from her and places it under the spare cot.

“Alex…” Kara isn't sure how to start.

“Yeah?” Kara can see her trying to analyze her expressions, “What's wrong?”

“Nothing, just, I know you're not going to want to hear this but J’onn wants you to stay out of the investigation.”

“Oh.” Surprise crosses Alex features.

“I know how much Maggie means to you Alex and we just want-”

“No no it's okay, I want to stay here tonight in case Maggie wakes up.  I trust you and J’onn, you'll find the bastard.”

“Oh,” this takes Kara completely by surprise.

“After what happened earlier I just,” Alex is fidgeting with the ends of er sleeves, “I need to be here and to see Maggie, even if she's not conscious I need to see that she's alive. So, thanks for bringing my bag, I appreciate it and you don't have to worry about me, I won't get involved. I feel this is where I need to be.”

Kara smiles softly and hugs her sister, intending to leave her for the evening, “Okay,  good. Call me if she wakes up okay?” she feels more than sees Alex nod. 

“Is that my shirt?” they separate.

Kara looks down at herself for a second, “Oh yeah, didn't want to show up as Supergirl so I borrowed a few things.” 

Alex smiles back, “Go on,” she inclines her head towards the door and rubs Kara's forearms, “get some sleep, I'll see you later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ended up losing my home internet (almost capped my mobile data doing this haha) going camping, burning my hand, could've died twice and worst of all moving house. So I had planned to post this about 5 days ago but ended up editing/posting it on my phone out in the bush and thus I apologize for any double spaces, sorry guys it's been an insane week, I had to climb on the roof of the car to get an extra bar of reception to post, so worth. xD


	3. 2am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title inspired by Chyler singing 2am in Grey’s Anatomy, because.... feels.
> 
> Authors Note: Totally forgot that I have a mate we call the Captain; for the few who know, this character has no connection to our Captain. I don’t use friends as characters, gets messy and complicated.

 

A vague awareness of consciousness pokes through the fog of darkness and Maggie stirs. She’s torn between giving in to sleep and trying to hold on to the sense of urgency that she can’t place.  _ Am I late for something? What have I forgotten, is there something to do today? What day is it? _ The more she thinks the more the urgency grows, anxious and confused she fights to open her eyes.  _ What am I not remembering?!  _ Maggie’s eyes barely open for slipping shut again but she catches sight of the unfamiliar white room, a curtain hanging by the side of the bed with rough sheets that she lies in. She’s seen too many rooms like this before and recognises it instantly.  _ A hospital.  _

Then, just as fast as she can fully open her eyes she remembers everything and instinctively moves her hand to a few centimeters below her right breast, feeling the bandages there. Maggie winces and immediately withdraws her hand, taking a tentative deep breath in, flinches halfway through and slowly breathes back out.  _ Great. No field work for me for the next six months. This, is gonna suck.  _ She drops her hand down to her lap, glad that the recliner bed she’s on is elevated to an almost sitting position, and looks around the room. It’s small with one wall almost exclusively window, a bathroom of its own, a wardrobe, a tv hanging off the wall, a few semi-cushioned chairs and a second cot has been rolled in housing- 

“Alex,” Maggie murmurs, contentment warming her heart and a smile creeping across her face, “Oh babe… How long have you been here?” 

Alex doesn’t wake, doesn’t even stir and Maggie has no desire to wake her although part of her wants to push her limits and slide into the bed behind her. She thinks better of it when she remembers that mere breathing hurts. The room is dark and a look towards the window beside her bed confirms that night has fallen, she can’t hear any birds chirping or singing but the continuous tick of a clock prompts her to find it and seek out the time. She finds it above the door reading- she has to squint to see it in the dim lighting- three thirty something, she’s not sure of the exact minute. 

Maggie looks around for paper, a pen, a pencil, a phone, anything she can reach to write to with.  _ I don’t want to forget. _ The details of the crime to which is she now a victim and not just a first hand witness, she wants recorded. She spots Alex’s phone on the little food table between them and sighs but stares at it with determination. Unlocking it won’t be the problem, they both know each other’s phone combinations, but reaching it was a whole new ball game that Maggie wasn’t entirely confident with.  _ But, given the hour and it doesn’t look like I'm in ICU, not enough machinery, I should have time to test this without anyone walking by.  _ She checks the machines around her; heart rate monitor, IV line, a grey box with flashing lights that she can’t identify. She’s not sure how long the wires are but figure’s she doesn’t need to get all that far to get what she wants. 

Slowly, Maggie rises, hands planted beside herself as she lifts up and swings her legs over the edge of the bed, ignoring the stabbing sensation in her chest and the ache through her body. She moves quickly to get it over with and then pauses there for a moment to assess her options. Stretching her arm out to test the distance between her and the phone Maggie realises that she’s going to have better luck (and less pain) if she stands up instead of trying to lean over.  _ Come on, two steps that’s all it will take, two steps, you can do it. Come on you’ve been walking for almost three decades, just two little itty bitty baby steps, toddlers are doin it.  _

Maggie slides down off the bed, pleased when her feet hit the floor and nothing else but also surprised with her own ability to stand even if the room does seem to have a slight sway to it. Thankfully  the beds have short little handrails which she takes full advantage of grabbing hold of, sliding along it and checking the wires attached to her aren’t being pulled tight or about to knock something over. Eyes front once more she keeps her right hand on the rail, stepping out with her left foot and reaching for the phone. Maggie can almost reach it and with another step-  _ almost there -  _ she unwillingly lets go of the rail behind her, her last safety line that she’s pretty sure she shouldn’t be letting go of and starts to take another step forward when the IV line in her left arm tugs. 

“ _ Shit!”  _ Her hand flies to her arm and she immediately turns to lose the tension in the line.  _ Okay that hurt, movies lie, never rip out an IV.  _ Maggie hopes it won't need to be redone later and returns her eye to the prizes, keeping her feet still this time, arms outstretched beside her and her eyes flicking between the phone and the IV line. She reaches over, now caught between watching Alex and her hand-eye co-ordination to the phone.  _ Now would be a really bad time to wake up.  _ Her middle finger catches the corner of Alex’s phone and she pulls it in closer, grasping it in her hand and pulling back with a relieved sigh, “Gotcha.” 

Turning around Maggie shuffles back to the bed, dropping the phone where she can reach it and then carefully sliding back in, making sure to move the wires out of her way so she won't sit on them. Once she’s moved the blankets overself and settled back into her previous reclined position, Maggie snags the phone and taps its power button. Immediately she closes her eyes against the intrusive bright light but then reopens them a moment later to manually adjust the brightness. It’s momentarily disorienting for Maggie to see the same background screen that she’s used to but with the apps in different locations. She stares through the icons for a moment to look at the image of her and Alex, the park behind them indistinguishable from another however her attention is focused on her partners’ face, her soft happy eyes and gorgeous smile that was lighting up the room. 

Then the reason why she worked so hard to get the phone strikes her again and she moves on, opening up text messaging and typing madly;  _ Perp Rex aprx 6 3 wht adult m shvd tdrop tat right eye heterochromia bl gr full sleeve r arm poss gang connect w priors. Wit apxr 5 8 f adult shldr engine red, gr eyes-  _  Maggie pauses, trying to focus her minds eye on the woman she had stepped in to protect that morning. She can see the two fighting, the male towering over her, holding her arm tightly as she fought to stop herself being pulled along but she can’t pick out any other distinguishing features, not even a handbag. She hits send and then turns the screen off, relaxing back into the bed and feeling tiredness sweep over her even as she tries to keep focus on her memories, tries to dissect them for information as she was taught. 

Maggie gives in, she’ll have time later to tell her story and for now is content that the important details are out and she can let sleep take her. 

 

* * *

 

Maggie wakes a few hours later as the sun begins to shine over the pink and orange horizon when a hand touches her wrist. She jolts, turning sharply to the source before remembering where she is and what happened. 

“Easy now.” 

Maggie moves her eyes up from her held wrist to the doctor before her, aging in her years with greying hair neatly pulled back into a bun, her name tag proudly displayed on her coat pocket reading ‘DR. B WILLIS’ in bold font and then over to the casually dressed young man standing by her feet, “Who are you?” 

“Josh,” he answers, tugging at his shirt and pointing to the sticky label plastered there.  _ Yeah I can see that.  _ He squirms under Maggie’s unintentional stare while she silently looks him over and continues a moment later to add, “I’m studying my third year in Medical Science at the university and I’m on industry experience placement here for another six months.” 

“Hm.” Maggie acknowledges, then sweeps her gaze over the room, noting Alex’s absence and then keeps her eyes on Willis beside her. 

“How do you feel this morning Margaret?”

“Maggie,” she corrects. The last people she want’s to be on the bad bad sides of are the doctors and nurses treating her, “Sore, tired.” 

“Mmmmhhm and far did you get last night?”

Maggie’s eyebrows pull together and her face morphs into a look confusion, “Pardon?”

“Your little excursion last night, how far did you get?”

“I-” she then remembers waking earlier and snagging Alex’s phone. Maggie looks down, searching the bed for the small device but can’t see anywhere so she looks back up at the doctor and figures there’s no point trying to lie, “How did you know?” 

Willis holds the phone up for her to see with a pointed look, then hands it back to her, “You law enforcement are all the same; brave, but stupid. Always trying to push your luck and get out of here as soon as possible.” 

“I had to get a message to my Captain-” Maggie tries to defend her reasons.

“Doesn’t matter!” Willis interrupts her, “You could have pulled your stitches or collapsed and further hurt yourself. You made it through the worst of it and you’re still alive, you have time and I’m sure whatever it was could have waited until a reasonable hour.” She turns to Joshua and her tone switches dramatically when addressing him, “Hand me her chart please.” and then back to Maggie, “So, Maggie,” she stresses the name, “are you going to cause me anymore trouble?” 

_ Anymore? _ “No Ma’am,” She gives a toothy, dimpled smile. 

“Mmmmhm. Good, I don’t like trouble patients they always make everything so difficult. Now, don’t get out of that bed again till I say so.”

“Aye aye,” Maggie gives a mock two finger salute and Willis watches her for a moment with a small, amused smile tugging on the corner of her lips. 

“My name’s Brenda Willis by the way and I’ll be your supervising doctor while you’re here. You’ve already met Joshua Stevens, my student while he’s here and I hope you don’t mind if he asks a lot of questions. He’s very chatty but almost as capable as any of the other nurses here. Should you need anything you can call a nurse with the remote here,” she picks up a remote hanging on the frame of the bed and hands it to Maggie, pointing to each of the buttons as she explains, “green button on the top. Arrows change the height of the bed and these ones the angle. Now just so we’re clear you should really be in ICU for at least a couple of days for us to monitor you but we’re out of beds since half the wing is under renovations so this was the next best thing.”

“And this is?”

“Primarily the Palliative Care Ward.” 

“ _ Oh _ .” The word sends a chill through her and she can feel the fine hairs on her arms rise upwards in acknowledgement.  _ That explains the single bed room. And the huge window. _

Willis returns her attention to the clipboard and pulls out the first sheet of paper, “Here’s your menu choices, a nurse will be around later to collect it and personally I recommend the ice cream. The pudding always taste a little funny. Now, do you remember what happened?”

“I was shot.”  _ Again. _

“Has anyone spoken to you about your condition?” 

“No, you’re the first person I’ve seen.”  _ Besides Alex.  _

“Mmmhmm. Okay well,” Willis stops flicking through the pages on the clipboard and looks Maggie in the eye, “short story is you have a broken rib and a small section of your liver was removed, so first and foremost no alcohol while you’re here. But the good news is they got the bullet out. You had a rough time yesterday, they tell me it was touch and go for a while there. Even had a stint in the ICU in between surgeries.” The doctor notices the goosebumps on Maggie’s arms, “Are you cold?”

“No.” 

Willis gives her a stern look and then flicks the page over the clipboard, “You wouldn’t be lying to me would you?”

“No. I’m not cold.” 

“Mmmmhhhm. Hot?” 

Maggie lights up, “Well my girlfriend sure seems to think so, she can’t keep her hands off me.” Joshua can’t help the laugh that bubbles up from him and even Willis gives a small smile to the comment. Maggie had forgotten he was there, “Speaking of, do you know where she is?” 

“I sent her to go eat something before we have to admit her too, the nurses tell me she’s been here since yesterday morning. At least she got a few hours sleep, poor girl wore herself out worrying about you.”

“Yeah that sounds like her, thank you, she forgets to eat when she’s worried.” Maggie watches a look of surprise cross her face momentarily before Willis schools her features and she wonders if perhaps she’s not used to people thanking her. She can see why her patients may not like her initially but Maggie sees through her hard tone and recognises that she cares for each person in her charge, doesn't’ want to see any further harm come to them and she can appreciate that.

“Mmhhm,” Willis says again and Maggie is noticing the pattern, “Okay, well we need to monitor you very closely over the next couple of days. Particularly your fluids, electrolytes, heart rate and blood pressure. We’re going to take blood every four hours, change your dressings every 12, and we’ll schedule you for a CT later. Should you feel ill, feverish, in pain or notice any change in your temperature I want you to notify a nurse immediately. Can I count on you to do that Maggie?” 

“Yes.” 

“Excellent! Then you and I are going to get on just fine. I’ll just take some blood and then be out of your hair for a few hours.” Maggie obligingly turns her arm over and raises it for Willis to tie the length of rubber around it. She finds the vein first go and watches the vial fill with the dark liquid. “Between you and me,” Willis lowers her voice, “keep an eye on Alex for me will you?”

Maggie is struck with surprise and studies the doctor before her, “Of course. Did something happen?”

“Ma’am if I may ask,” Joshua starts, drawing Maggie’s attention, “how did you get shot?” 

“Intervened in a fight. I tried to help a woman who looked like she was in trouble and it didn’t work out.” 

“Did it hurt?” He blurts. 

“Joshua.” Willis warns. 

Maggie ignores her doctor and answers anyway, “Only while I was conscious.” He’s looking at her with admiration and Maggie’s not sure how she feels about that.  

The needle is withdrawn and the rubber band slips off, “All done. Are you in any pain?”

“Some,” Maggie admits, “Mostly if I try to move at all.” 

Willis nods, “That’s to be expected, are you allergic to Morphine or any other pain killers?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” 

“Were you taking any medication for anything prior to admission here?” 

“No.” 

“Alrighty, then we’ll see how you go with a low dose of Morphine.” She pulls out a needle from her pocket and injects into the IV line. Maggie wonders if she had been carrying it in preparation for this scenario. “If you feel any side effects let us know.”

“Will do.” Maggie responds but she’s distracted by the burning heat spreading down her arm, steadily making its way up past her elbow, through her shoulder, chest, along her spine in both directions. She’s more than a little creeped out with how she can feel it moving through her veins and she swears she can  _ feel  _ the second it hits her brain because the heat dies down and her pain poofs out of existence, leaving behind a deep sense of relaxation.

“You stay out of trouble now.” Willis says lightly. 

“I will,” Maggie confirms and after watching them leave, turns to watch the brightening skyline as the sun peeks over house roofs and in between the buildings, bringing about the daylight. She doesn’t think she’s ever been this relaxed before, it's surreal and she thinks to herself that it’s better than any amount of alcohol she could ever drink, and, without the dreaded hangover the next morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was the second one that I wrote and it's my absolute favourite so far.


	4. O Captain, My Captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I’ve been cackling over this chapter for weeks and it was almost titled ‘wtf Sawyer’ cos that's what it's been called in my notes :P

“The sky is so gay, look at all those colours! The moon is gay, the sky is gay, I am gay… Wow, SPACE IS SO GAY!” Maggie talks to herself, still looking out the window when Alex returns, finishing off the final remains of a bagel and wiping her hands together.

“Hi there.” Alex stands in the doorway, eyebrows raised in amusement.

Maggie’s head whirls around almost comically, “Alex!” she exclaims excitedly and scratches her nose, then pointing to the window says, “Look how gay everything is, and look at all those colours! Space is gay!”

Alex eyes trace over her girlfriend and lets her smile tug its way to freedom, “I don’t think space has a gender or sexual orientation.” she makes her way over to the bed and settles for a kiss to her cheek in lieu of hugging her.

“Oh wow, okay, I still have so much to teach you my baby gay.”

Something inside her flutters in response, something she can’t quite put a name to because she has an even more important question writhing in her mind to be answered and laid to rest, “How are you feeling?”

“Super gay right now, have you seen my girlfriend? She’s super gorgeous and makes these little fireworks go off inside my chest.” Maggie tries to make an exploding gesture with her hands and then raises them Alex’s cheeks.

“Flattery will get you nowhere right now,” Alex takes her hands, “but seriously, how are you doing?”

“Pretty great actually, they gave me morphine and- oh, hey I just noticed something; if you replaced the ‘ph’ with ‘f’ it would be ‘more-fine’, did they do that on purpose cos it makes you feel fine?”

“I have no idea,” Alex is grinning, amused because her girlfriend is an adorable goof on pain medication it seems, and takes a seat beside her bed.

“Oh! Babe, did you know your smile lights up the room?” Alex smile hasn’t diminished since she walked into the room and she’s curious to see where this is going but before she can get a single syllable out, Maggie continues, “Cos I borrowed your phone last night and when I turned the screen on,” she holds up the screen and taps the power button to show Alex, “BOOM your face just lit up the whole room!” she dissolves into a fit of giggles as Alex takes her phone back.

“I was wondering where that went.” Alex chuckles slightly and reaches out to brush Maggie’s hair.

She hums, “That feels nice,” her eyes slip closed peacefully as Alex’s fingers continue to slide through her locks repeatedly, “you have very powerful fingers Alexandra Danvers.”

“That could mean so many things.” she snickers in response, letting the use of her full name slide just this one time.

“I think you know what I mean,” Maggie whispers and peers at her through sleepy eyes and a dazed smile. _Tranquillity._ That's the word that slides into her mind to describe how she feels. Maggie's at peace with the world, she's calm, conscious, relaxed and the little curved line Alex’s thumb is tracing over hers in combination with the hair stroking is lulling her into a trance primed for sleep. She can't imagine being any more comfortable than she is in this moment, there's no pressure, no stress or worries, no tomorrow to worry about; just her and Alex. Maggie thinks the scene could be more romantic or intimate if they were at her apartment, perhaps sitting in bed together or lounging on the couch, but not necessarily any more comfortable. She realizes then that it's not about the location or the setting, but rather the company she's with and her own feelings.

“Your hair is so soft,” Alex whispers.

It gets Maggie thinking, “How does hair have colour? I mean, I might not be as much of a nerd as you, but I get that it’s in our DNA and whatever but why don’t people have naturally pink hair or green or hibiscus purple?”

Alex laughs gently, “Hibiscus purple…Short answer, it's just not in our genetic code.”

“Mmm… Code. Good code, bad code, people, we're all just bad code.”

“Because our hair isn't pastel purple?”

“Huh? No no,” Maggie hasn’t a clue what she’s saying ‘no’ to exactly, she can’t remember that far back through her own meandering thoughts, but she tries to bring Alex up to speed, “Person of Interest, come on babe keep up.”

“Maybe I could if I knew where your thoughts were going off to.” Alex teases.

An idea strikes, sudden and catching like a flint to kindling and Maggie feels more awake with it, “Hey babe, come here,” Alex stands up and leans over slightly, “no, closer, come closer I have to tell you something suuuuupper important, but it's a secret.” Alex goes with it and obligingly leans even closer, the two almost nose to nose and Maggie reaches up with both hands on her cheeks, pulling her down and kissing her. Alex has to brace herself with arms either side of Maggie’s body to stop herself from falling onto her. Regardless, Maggie's hot hands are causing her to melt, warmth spreading from them and her own heart, the two waves colliding somewhere in the middle when neither of them pulls back. Internally Alex chastises herself, she knows their tendency to escalate and she shouldn’t be doing this right now but Maggie’s lips have something else to say on the matter and she listens wholeheartedly, losing her breath to the detective without a care. She’d trade her dying breath for Maggie’s lips on hers if she could, but before these emotions have time to fully captivate her senses Maggie is pulling back to speak, “That's where they are going… almost all the time.”

“Good thoughts, I like it.” Alex responds slightly breathless and still holding herself over Maggie.

Maggie’s eyes drop to her chest with a smirk and she places her index finger on the bare skin above her sweater. Alex watches her and when her finger doesn't move, lowers her gaze too, only for Maggie to poke her nose and yell, “BOOP!” Alex freezes and just stares at her girlfriend with no idea how to respond and Maggie’s only response is to giggle.

Alex unfreezes and sits back in her chair, mumbling something about it being unfair.

“Hey when’s lunch?” Maggie asks, “I want ice cream.”

“For lunch?” Alex spots the menu on the opposite side of the bed and points to it, gesturing for Maggie to hand it to her.

“Yeah Babe, I’m in hospital.” She responds as if that somehow explains her logic and ignores Alex’s pointing.

“You wanna pass me the menu so you can get some ice cream?”

“No I want you to lean over me again.” Her dimples show through as beams with the revelation of her master plan.

Alex shakes her head, leaning forward in her seat she reaches her arm over Maggie’s legs and snags the paper, reading over it as she responds, “Not today. Now, lunch options are: soup, steak or assorted sandwiches.”

“You know I once saw a thing on the internet; none pizza with left beef. What an atrocity. I mean sure it’s funny but… someone probably had to eat that? How bland! There’s nothing for the meatballs to even stick to so they just roll away and contaminate the rest of the pizza.”

Alex nods once, pretending she understands and chooses soup for Maggie, along with ice cream and water, “Alrighty then… Dinner options are… the exact same, oh wait,” she pulls the menu closer to examine it, “soup, assorted sandwiches or pork.”

“How about if I just eat you?”

“Maggie, you’re not a cannibal and I’m really not all that nutritious even if you were.”

“S’not what I meant…” Maggie grumbles distractedly, scratching intensely at her nose, “I want pizza.”

“That wasn’t one of the options,” Alex holds up the list for her to see, “You okay there Mags?”

“Just itching to get out of here.”

Alex drops her shoulders, unimpressed with the pun, “Ha ha,” she responds dryly and ticks off soup, ice cream, and apple juice for her dinner options and sets the paper aside for later collection.

“Hey Alex Babe,” Maggie calls, making grabby hands in her general direction even though she could reach Alex if she fully extended her arms.

Alex looks at her with amusement, it's the fifth time Maggie has called her ‘babe’ and she's not sure where it's coming from. Not that she minds, “Yes Maggie?”

“Come here, you're so beautiful and I want to kiss you.”

“You’re not going to poke my nose again are you?”

“Naahh, too soon.”

Alex can agree to those terms and so she rises again, leans over, and gives her a couple little feathery kisses. She intends to keep it light but Maggie has a hold on the front of her sweater now and is refusing to let her go until she has been thoroughly kissed, fingers sliding into her short hair.

She shouldn't be surprised, not after earlier, but she is.

A knock on the door interrupts Maggie's quest however and she releases Alex's lips, whispering, “I'm not done with you yet.” and then lets go of her shirt.

Alex turns, a little unsteady on her feet and adjusting her sweater, to see the visitor whom she recognizes as the Captain of NCPD, “Captain Alison,” she greets and holds her hand out.

“You must be Alex Danvers.”

“Yes, any news on the case?”

“Nothing new unless your team found something overnight. Mind if I have a few words with Detective Sawyer?” Captain Alison asks mostly out of courtesy.

“Of course not, good luck.” And with that Alex leaves them to grab a drink.

With Alex no longer blocking her view, Maggie finally sees who has stepped into the room and she beams, “Oh, Captain, My Captain!” she smiles at her own joke, “Heh. Did you come all the way down here just to see moi? I must be special.”

“Well I was hoping to get your statement.” Captain Alison recognises immediately that the Detective is not herself, “What have they got you on?”

“Morphine, it’s great, I feel so great. I have never been so relaxed in my life. It was super weird at first, I could feel it moving down my veins but it's pretty great, I feel so fine, there is zero pain in my body.”

“Right, well see if you can focus for a while. What do you remember from yesterday?”

“What day was yesterday?”

“Tuesday.”

“Two dollars off shots on Tuesday's at the bar.” Maggie responds, looking off into the distance as her thoughts meander.

“Detective Sawyer, do you remember being shot?”

“Shots?” Maggie asks looking back at Captain Alison, confused why her CO is asking her about shots until her face lights up in memory a moment later, “Oh yeah, I got shot. That sucked. It was worse than the last time I got shot, but Alex was there to patch me up that time so it wasn't too bad, hope that girl’s alright though.”

“What girl?” Captain Alison asks urgently, pushing to one side that she had no idea Maggie had been previously shot, in the wake of this important information.

“Hmm? Girl where? What girl? Is she pretty? Hey I have a girl where’s my girl? Alex?!” Maggie calls and starts looking around the room for her girlfriend while Captain Alison sighs, tempted to hit her face with her palm, “Have you seen her?  She's a tall kick ass ninja, short hair, looks amazing in a thigh holster, expressive eyes, cool under pressure with an affinity for sweaters? Goes my Alex Danvers but really it should DAMNvers because damn is she fine? More-fine than I-”

“Detective Sawyer I need you to focus.” Alison leans over the bed, resting her weight on the rails, “Did you see who shot you?”

“I don't know the man who shot me, he was an asshat and I make a point not to associate with asshats.”

“So it was a male? What did he look like?”

“Tall, white, his eyes were really cool but he was probably straight and boring, males are so boring, who wants to talk about them? Let's talk about women; women are gorgeous and just so soft.”

“Okay then let's talk about the girl you mentioned, was she a witness? Were you protecting her?”

“Alex? She doesn’t need protecting, she can definitely handle her own, probably even better than me...Hey, where _is_ Alex? I get shot, I sorta expected her to be here, being my girlfriend and the super protective person she is. ”

“Focus Sawyer! Did you send me a text at 3am this morning?”

“It's possible, I send a lot of texts, mostly to Alex but if you take into account the multiverse then wow, it really is possible for anything to happen.”

Captain Alison tries another question, hoping something, _anything_ will get through to her, “Where's your gun?”

Maggie looks around the room, hands patting down the bed, “Oh shit, where is my gun… Did you take my gun?” She leans forward and slides her hands quickly down Captain Alison’s sides, patting her hips and quickly finds the weapon there.

“Hey!” Captain Alison isn't fast enough to catch Maggie's searching hands so she steps back from the bed, scandalised, a second before Maggie can draw her weapon. “Give me my gun back!”

“That's my weapon Detective Sawyer, where is yours?”

“Right there?” She points to Alison's holster. Captain Alison rubs face, trying desperately to forget that her subordinate just tried to frisk her, “Hmm, I'm tired.” Maggie closes her eyes and sleep chases her, catching up quickly in her relaxed state.

“Detective Sawyer.”

“Oh, you're still here Captain, when is Alex coming back?”

“It's been 12 seconds Sawyer.”

“Sure feels like it, sleep is funny that way. What do you need?”

“Can you tell me what happened yesterday?”

“I got shot again. You know, this needs to stop happening, I need to stop getting shot and Alex needs to stop getting abducted and Kara needs to stop blindly leaping into things. It's a mess all round really. Oh, my fridge is gonna be a mess if I don't clear out-”

“Detective Sawyer!”

“Hmm? That's me.”

“Did you send me this text at 3am this morning?” She holds out her phone for Maggie to inspect.

Maggie looks at the text, “I use the same abbreviations and-oh hey that's Alex's number. Why do you have my girlfriends number?”

“Because you texted me?”

“Oh. Oh yeah I did.” there's a brief pause as Maggie looks out the window, watching the way the sun filters through the clouds and highlights the dust in the sky. She's about to tell Captain Alison to look how beautiful it is when she notices the little rainbow curving over her superiors’ head, “I didn't know you were into women Captain Alison.”

“What? I'm not.”

“Have you any idea how many women have told me that? Alex too and then like two days later she's kissing me in a bar. Wild. But don't go kissing me, that would be really inappropriate for so many reasons and Alex would probably break her fingers punching you out if you did.” Maggie yawns and scratches her nose again, “She may be right handed and prefer to hit with her right but her left hook is way stronger, no one ever sees it coming, it's awesome and so hot. Her biceps are amazing.”

“The only feelings I have for you Sawyer are annoyance and sympathy.” Captain Alison responds dryly.

“HA, feelings, what even are they? You probably have a feeling about me, it is a pretty feeling?” she asks, blinking slowly, her eyelids taking their time to rise again.

“Pretty annoying.”

“Ohhh, nice one.” She mumbles as sleep closes in on her again.

“This is going nowhere.” Alison says, mostly to herself.

“Are we supposed to be going somewhere?”  

“No Detective Sawyer, you are to stay right where you are. I’ll come back another time.” Captain Alison leaves in search of Alex, hoping she may have better intel or at least be able to carry a conversation.

“Yes Ma’am,” Maggie murmurs and closes her eyes once more.

Captain Alison stops just out the door, finding Alex leaning there with a white plastic cup in hand and an amused smile on her face, “So how'd it go?”

She receives a light glare in response, “Some warning wouldn't have gone astray.”

“She's been like this all morning. She's aware of what's going on but can't hold a conversation.”

“Hospitals are always doing this, drugging up our witness and it makes it so difficult to get statements that will hold up in court.” Captain Alison holds her phone out, displaying the text message she received, “Can you confirm that this is your number?”

Alex barely glances at the screen and then takes a sip of her coffee, “Yep.”

“Did you or Sawyer send the message?”

“Maggie borrowed my phone last night. Hopefully it helps.”

Captain Alison nods, “A little unethical but at this point I’m glad she did it, it's all we've got to work with unless your co-workers come up with something.” she watches Alex expression closely but all she does is nod and take another sip.

“I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble Captain.”

“They repeatedly crashed the crime scene and then brought Supergirl in.” Alex feigns surprise, “Your girlfriend sure has some friends in mighty high places these days.”

“Yeah, FBI have a lot of connections and my team are loyal to me which by extension makes them loyal to Maggie. Hopefully working together we can solve this case, which by the way, any leads besides that message?”

“Just the bullet they pulled from Detective Sawyer that the hospital gave me on the way in and the casing it came from. Did the hospital give you any of her personal items? Anything that she came in with?”

“No, nothing. What are you looking for?” Alison doesn't answer her immediately and Alex knows she's holding something back, “What's missing?”

“Her gun.”

Alex pauses before answering, “At least it will be easy to track if it’s used.”

“Mm, well one more thing before I go; people at the precinct have been asking if they can visit.”

“I don't think now is the best time, I'm sure Maggie would appreciate the support but not while the Morphine is making her uh, loopy.”

“I'll pass that on. You have my number, please let me know if anything changes.”

Alex nods once, “Same to you Captain Alison.”

She nods her confirmation and then takes her leave.

Alex moves back into the room to find Maggie asleep so she sits with her coffee and pulls out her phone to keep busy with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, chapter 5 is a thing that hasn't happened at all yet but six 1/4 there... they're such a chore to write though, I just wanna skip to 7 & 8 they're so much more fun xD


	5. Fire in the Sheets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo it's been 7 months but I’m back? Kinda? I ended up getting away for a weekend and it got me thinking about this story so I decided to revisit it (while out of wi-fi, typical me)… and ta-da! Now we have an update ^.^

*The Next Day*

Alex stands aside while a nurse pushes Maggie into the room in a wheelchair, “All good?” She asks the attending nurse who nods, putting on the brakes.

“So far so good. Stand up please Maggie.” Doctor Willis responds as she follows the others into the room.

Maggie stands, assisted by the nurse and doctor as they guide her back into bed and reconnect her to the machines that line her bedside, “Oh shiiiiiiit Doc, not in front of my girl!” Maggie exclaims when she sees the doctor pull out a needle.

“Relax Maggie, it’s just a vitamin boost,” Willis looks over at Alex to address her, “You said you’re a doctor right?” Alex nods her confirmation, “I’m sure she’s probably given you an injection before, there’s nothing to it.”

“Yeah but doc I don’t want her to think I got another doctor on the side you know what I’m saying?”

“No I don’t.”

Alex shakes her head with a huge grin on her face, and squeezes Maggie hand. Maggie looks over at her and suddenly beams, “Babe! Hey! I swear this isn’t what it looks like, you’re still my main doctor okay? Please don’t be jealous I love you, I don’t even know her,” Maggie’s swings back around to look at Willis, “What’s your name?” Then back to Alex, “See I don’t even know her name how stupid is that?”

Alex is laughing and kisses Maggie’s hand, “Maggie it’s okay, she’s here to help me take care of you. It wasn’t a simple cut you got this time, a gunshot is a bit beyond my abilities, I'm no surgeon.”

“Oh. Well then that’s okay, but next time can you do it? It seems fitting cos you’re already under my skin.” Maggie beams with pride at her joke. Alex shares a look with Doctor Willis and they both agree it’s not a good idea under the circumstances.

“We’ll see.” She hopes that Maggie will forget she’s even asked by the time she’ll have to have another needle stuck into her.

“All done,” Doctor Willis announces, “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Bah-bye” Maggie waves and then turns her attention to Alex, “Tell me I’m crazy.”

“Maggie, you’re crazy.” Alex responds with a smile.

“The good kind of crazy or the obsessive-stalkery-I-can’t-wait-till-you’re-single-so-I-can-ask-you-out kind of crazy?”

“Absolutely bat shit crazy...That was very specific, is there something you want to talk about?”

“Nope, that kind of crazy is like… end up looking over your shoulder or end up in the back of a van kind of crazy. Not fun crazy. I’m not that kind of crazy am I?” Maggie points to the wall in front of her, “Cos the nurse is saying I am but I don’t think I’m crazy. If you don’t think you’re crazy does that make you sane?”

Alex looks to where Maggie is pointing and doesn’t see anyone. “You’re not crazy Maggs,” she stands up and kisses her forehead, “just hallucinating.” and sits back down again.

“Oh… well, shit… Okay,  I'm not talking to anyone who isn't real so all you figments of my imagination need to fuck right off.” Maggie waves her hands and gestures to the door, looking around the room to see who disappears.

“Do you feel better now?” Alex asks, genuinely concerned but also curious.

“Loads, she poofed right out of existence and hey babe, can you call a nurse? Not feeling pain is great and all but I don't like hallucinating.”

“Of course Maggie,” _anything you want._

“You're still real right? You're not a figment of my imagination?”

“I'm real. As far as I can tell I'm real.”

“But how do you define real? Do you define real as something that you can see,  or touch or feel? Then real is just electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”

“Are you quoting the Matrix at me? Oh my God you nerd!”

“Says the one with the science degree.”

“Says the one with the forensics AND criminology degrees.”

“Ehhhhhhhh I don't like to brag.”

“That’s not what I heard when you were talking about me yesterday.” Alex teases.

“That’s different, I gotta brag about my partner, especially when you’re that kick ass, like seriously you in a thigh holster is a  _sin_ but then you in a dress is just  _gorgeous_ and you know, not everyone can do both like that and let's not even  _start_  on what you with  _both at the same time_  does to me. Oh but you know what?”

“What?”

“You know when you hit your knee funny bone?”

“No.” Alex looks at her dead serious and shakes her head, barely able to keep up with the rapid changes in conversation.

“It's not as bad when you hit your knee funny bone as when you hit your elbow funny bone. It's not science,  just something I noticed. Or maybe it is. You should google it. Google knows too much these days, I could probably ask it where I left my keys and it would say ‘in yesterday's pants you bumbling imbecile’.”

“Sounds like you have that theory down pat.”

“Who the FUCK is Pat?”

Alex stares at her uncomprehending, “What?”

“You said, ‘you have that down, Pat’, and I'm asking who Pat is. Have I met Pat? Are they are a decent person? Is Pat short for Patrick, or Patricia or do they prefer neither and go for just Pat to be more gender neutral? There's important questions to be asked here.”

Alex rubs her face with her hands in exasperation, loopy Maggie was fun for a while but the novelty is quickly wearing off now.  She wants her Maggie back now, “Maggie no.”

“Maggie yES!”

“Do you even know what you’re saying yes to?”

“Not really but I’m sure I’m right.”

“Uh-huh.”

A knock on the door draws their attention to the kitchen staff standing there holding a tray, “Lunchtime,” he announces and plonks it down on the wheely table, “Enjoy.” he says as he leaves, closing the door on his way out.

“Alex I can’t eat this.” Maggie says seriously.

“Why not?” She understands that hospital food isn’t the greatest but she can’t see anything wrong with it.

“The potato.” She states pointing to the bowl next to her soup which looks an unappetising green, “Potato is just raw, unprocessed vodka and I’m not supposed to have alcohol.”

Alex’s eyebrows raise and she gives the detective a look something akin to ‘riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight, okay...’

“Potato. Raw vodka!”

“Just eat it, I won't tell of you don't.”

“Ahhhhh, ever the rule breaker Danvers.”

“Only for you,” Alex mumbles, picking at a thread on her sweater, “and Kara.”

There's another knock on the door and Alex's sigh is drowned out by Maggie loudly exclaiming, “Am I sitting on a highway? Or am I just very popular? What's with all the traffic, can't a girl eat her lunch in peace?”

“Oh, uh, sorry for the interruption, won't be long.” A doctor steps into the room, checking a piece of paper in his hands before folding it up and pocketing it. He leaves the door open and approaches the bed with a needle in his other hand. 

“Wait,” Alex says, “No more morphine, it's making her hallucinate.”

The doctor notices the flashing light on the call button and cancels it before rounding to other side of the bed,  “Don't worry, this is just a little something to boost her immune system.” he says and injects the solution into the line. 

“Oh ouch,” Maggie cringes,  “Oi that burns,” she hisses, rubbing her arm as though it will ease the pain. 

“There you are,  have a great day.” The doctor shoves his hands into his coat pockets and hastily exits without meeting Alex's eye, forgetting to close the door on his way out.

Alex watches him and follows him to the open door, eyeing him for another seconds before pulling the door shut and returning to Maggie who is poking at the soup with a fork, “I'm too tired to eat now,” she exclaims and pushes the wheely table away from herself, “Will you still be here when I wake up?” she can barely keep her eyes open through the sentence.

 

“Of course, sleep.”

“Whoa, the fairies are dancing… How are they making the room spin like that?” Maggie mumbles, trying to fight off sleep to finish her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Thank you for the comments and feedback! I decided to tweak this chapter slightly as a result ^.^  
> Hopefully this keeps Alex more in character.


	6. Wild in the Streets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had the sudden urge to fix this chapter up and post it while stuck on a train for a few hours... It’s not perfect but apparently it’s the best I can do for this one since this story stalled for 6 months because of this chapter xD

As J’onn walks up towards the briefing table in the middle of the room his phone rings, the name ‘Captain Alison’ lighting up the screen.  He holds a hand up to the crew waiting for him and gestures for them stand at ease as he answers the call and steps away for privacy, “Captain, what’s news?” 

“Crime lab got a hit with the details Detective Sawyer left us, the suspect’s name is Reginald Priors and he has a rap sheet a mile long. His last known address is an empty lot but we know where some of his buddies like to hang out so we’re sending you the location; we’ll be there in twenty minutes; do us a favor though?” She pauses, “Wait for us.”

“Will do.” J’onn replies, hangs up, and turns, “Get a-” he stops when he remembers that Alex isn’t there with him, he’s grown used to her presence beside him in the DEO, ready to gear up and lead a squad at a moment's notice. He directs his attention to Alex’s stand in, an Agent by the name of Rohds who looks at him expectantly, “Get an infiltration team ready. Human targets, We roll in 10.” And with that, he leaves to find himself a weapon. This is one fight he’s not staying out of. 

The briefing happens in transit and the DEO get to the site first despite their delay, waiting as promised for the NCPD to join them. During that time Winn has hacked the camera’s in the area and been able to positively identify that their suspect is in the building. With this information J’onn sends his team to position themselves by the exits in case Priors tries to flee before the NCPD arrive. 

NCPD roll quietly up not long after in a white unmarked van at the top of the alleyway entrance and officers pour out of the doors quickly, geared up and ready, they scan the area out of habit. “Cavalry on site.” J’onn informs his team as he strolls over to the van, flicking the safety on his pistol but not holstering it. “Glad you could make it. Who’s in charge?” He asks when he doesn’t recognise the faces he can see.  

An officer with bright red hair peeking out from under her helmet turns to him and offers her hand, “Senior Sergeant Galley.” They share a strong handshake and then the woman’s hand returns to her weapon, confirming it’s in a ‘ready’ state as she speaks, “We’re on channel 80.” 

“Excellent, so are we. My team are watching the entrances and the tech guys back home tell us he’s still in there. Ready?” 

“Aye. Let’s go get this bastard.” At the word the team of people move out in their pre-assigned teams and formations.

As promised, J’onn lets them have the command, “Waiting on your mark.” He informs and follows the Senior Sergeant to the entrance closest to them. They stand by the door while NCPD get into positions with the DEO agents already in place, weapons out, safeties off, and waiting for each team to check in. 

“Squad One to Leader, in position with friendlies.”

“Squad Two to Leader, in position with friendlies…”

This goes on until each team has reported in that they are in position with their DEO counterparts. Galley nods to herself when the sound off is complete and then she calls, “Leader to all Squads; go, go, go.” and in near unison the teams breach the building. 

They make a quiet entrance, creeping in one by one, watching each others backs, and sweeping the rooms. The warehouse they’re clearing has two levels according to the council's blueprints on file and due the vast emptiness, J’onn and the officers and agents with him have line of sight to a couple of the infiltration teams. They make no effort to acknowledge each other, keeping radio silence, and continue moving. A few pallets lie scattered around stacked with wrapped up boxes whose cargo could be of any number of items with questionable legality. However the crates and their potential illegal cargo are not their focus this morning. 

A door above J’onn on the upper level opens with a loud  _ clang  _ and yelling erupts. The suspect is sighted and voices immediately shout over each other to identify themselves as members of law enforcement. ‘FBI!’ and ‘NCPD! GET ON THE GROUND!’ and a single ‘SCATTER!’ can be barely made out from each other and the suspect runs. Three others come running from the room as well. They all scatter in their haste to flee the cops and two carrying pistols attempt a shootout diversionary tactic, taking the attention of the squads upstairs.

Priors goes for a ladder connecting the two floors, sliding down the handrailing and ducking behind a pallet. He draws a gun. J’onn has his location pegged and directs the officers with him to take immediate cover at the few crates in the area while he pushes forward. They exchange bullets and thankfully Priors has terrible aim, the projectiles missing J’onn by a long shot. The officers are still yelling over the gunfire at him to give up, drop the weapon and turn himself in.

The sound of glass shattering reaches J'onn’s ears a moment for the glass itself does and he barely sees a flash of red, blonde and blue while he covers his head. He doesn’t need to question what is it, he knows  _ exactly  _ what, or rather,  _ who _ has decided to crash the party. 

He doesn’t even get out a ‘Supergirl, no!’ before she’s punching Priors and hauling him back to his feet, gun clattering to the floor. J’onn sighs and tosses her a pair of handcuffs before checking on the other teams. There are a few bodies on the ground above them, none of them law enforcement and the gunfire continues somewhere out of sight. The officers behind him overtake him and they scale the ladder quickly to assist their colleagues. 

“Let me go!” Prior’s squirms, or tries to, under the strength of Supergirl holding his bound arms tightly. 

“That was for Alex,” She states without explaining who that is and starts walking him over to J’onn, “Where do you want him?” 

“NCPD will take him back with them, keep him outside till they’re ready and make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.” 

Supergirl nods and drags the unwilling suspect with her as she exits.

J’onn checks his weapon, holsters it, and heads towards the ladder as well. As he climbs the gunfire stops and he realises he has no idea where the teams have gone,  “Status report?” he asks when he gets to the top, forgetting for a moment that he wasn’t supposed to be leading this charge. 

“Two wounded, priority 3.” J’onn doesn’t recognise the voice.

“Squad cars should be here by now, get back to the van and we’ll patch everyone up.” The Senior Sergeant’s voice comes through with a hint of an irish accent, “We picked up a few extra detainees to take back with us.”

J’onn looks around the abandoned warehouse slowly from his elevated position then slides down the ladder he just climbed. He catches sight of the pistol lying on the ground and recognizes at as the type issued to NCPD. Walking over to the weapon he crouches down and stares at it, knowing full well that it can't be a coincidence and therefore must be Maggie's. J'onn makes note to mention it to the forensic team for a rush job to confirm as he moves to the meeting point back at the vehicles. He’s the last one out of the building and witnesses Priors being pushed into the back of a marked squad car. The officers have taken off their tactical helmets, some their vests, and are now milling about. Two officers are seated on the ground and leaning against the unassuming white van, a uniformed officer tending to their minor injuries. J’onn finds Galley, “How are the injuries?”

“Thankfully minor, nothing more than bruises, scrapes, and close calls. Dallas there is going to have a nice little scar on her arm where she got grazed and Lok took a round to their vest but they’ll be fine besides some bruising. How about your people?”

“All in the clear,” he smiles back. 

“And Supergirl? Why didn’t you tell us about her?”

“She wasn’t supposed to be here.” He answers honestly, hands on his hips and eyes flicking over to the city’s hero pacing the alley away from them , “I have no idea how she even knew to be here, we didn’t call her in.” 

The Senior Sergeant nodded, accepting the answer, “Alright, well, we’ve got plenty of work to do now so I suppose we’ll see you back at the precinct?” 

“You can count on that.” J’onn affirmed, “Looks like Priors might have dropped our Detective's service weapon by the ladder on the bottom floor, if your precinct is backed up it'd be no problem for us to rush the ballistics tests?” 

“Appreciate the offer but we'd like to keep this as in-house as possible, don't worry though, I'll put a rush on this one and we'll have confirmation in a few hours.” 

J'onn nods, he expected as much, “Keep us informed.”

“Aye,” Galley nods and with nothing else to say to each other the two teams part ways for debriefing. 

J'onn turns around to gather his people, “Agents!” they snap to attention and jog over to their boss but he notices one person missing from the fray, “Where's Supergirl?” a few turn around but most shrug. It wasn't their job to watch Supergirl. J’onn sighs, “Alright, good work agent's. Any injuries?” 

“No sir!” comes the chorus response from them all. 

J’onn smiles, “Good. Let's go home,  NCPD have it from here and we'll check in with them later.” He gestures to the van they arrived in and agent's pile back in.

***

~ National City Police Precinct ~

“Hello Reginald, I see you’re familiar with this procedure,” Galley leans over the desk in the interrogation room,  supporting her weight on her arms, “you’ve been here almost a dozen times now. How about you save us the trouble and confess?”

The suspect is slouched in the chair, legs spread and arms crossed looking bored and disinterestedly at the table, “Name’s Rex.” 

The officer straightens, taking the file on the desk and opening it, “Petty theft, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, drug possession, grand theft auto, suspected arson, resisting arrest… wow, how are you still on the streets?” Galley looks up from the file in her hands, “Well you won't be for much longer, now we can add attempted murder of a police officer. You’re moving up in the crime world.” 

Rex looks up at her, “So that chick’s alive?” 

“Her name is Maggie Sawyer and despite your efforts she is alive. Why’d you do it?”

He looks away, “I didn’t do nothin.” 

“Then how did you know the officer is a woman?” 

“Read about it in the paper.”

_Plausible._ “Sure, okay, you read about it the paper. And did her gun also come with the paper?”

“Circumstantial, I found that gun!” 

“Where?” 

“In an alley.”

“Which alley?” 

“I don’t remember, just some alley.”

“Now why don’t I believe you?” 

“Cos you cops don’t got no respect, all you see is a felon.” 

The senior sergeant starts sliding copies of evidence photos onto the desk, “We have photos of you leaving the alley at the time Detective Sawyer was shot, we found her gun in your possession when we arrested you and Sawyer names you personally.” she pauses, “If you’re so innocent then tell us what happened.” Silence. “You want me to believe you didn’t do it then give me a reason to.” Rex doesn’t say a word or look at her, he keeps his sight firmly on a blank spot of the table and tries to remain as still as possible. Galley stands facing him and waits with her arms crossed, giving him the chance to come clean and tell them what happened. 

Whole minutes pass with only the ticking of the clock to fill their ears and in those still minutes neither move,  the suspect never raising his mismatched eyes to meet those of the woman before him. Stillness settles into the room and Rex finds himself almost calm in the stalemate.  Galley sighs, breaking the veil and gathering the photos she leaves the interrogation room. Captain Alison and Supergirl meet her outside the door, “We need more physical evidence or we’re going to have to release him, currently there’s too much that can be counted as circumstantial. Without Sawyer’s full testimony in a clear state of mind...the gun and photos only prove he was there, we still have to place the gun Maggie was shot with in his hands when it was fired.”

Captain Alison nods, “We need to find the gun that was used. Without that or a confession we can’t charge him yet.” she looks at Supergirl, “The best we could do is hold him for a few days while we search his car, apartment, workplace and gang connections. Or Sawyer can positively ID him with a clear mind, unaffected by drugs.” 

“May I speak to him?” Supergirl asks the Captain. 

“What do you have in mind?” 

“He has obvious issues with the police, perhaps if I spoke to him he might respond differently. I’m not a cop.” 

“Worth a shot.” Alison decides. Galley and Alison move into the observation room and Supergirl walks into interrogation. 

“Rex is it?” She asks with her hands on her hips. 

“Wow, Supergirl… color me impressed.” Priors shifts and sits up,  leaning his arms on the table.

“A friend of mine was shot and we know you were there at the time. The police think you did it but I think passed behaviour does not always dictate future behavior, I haven’t made up my mind about you yet. If you know something, tell me what you saw and maybe we can help each other out.”

“I must be pretty special if you’re here and not out saving babies or putting out fires.”

“I’m not here for you, I’m here for Maggie Sawyer and the people who care for her.”

“As they said, I’ve been here before and I know how this process all works. You suspect me of this crime, of shooting this…” he pauses for dramatic effect, and then doesn't use Maggie’s name, “officer, but you don’t have the evidence to prove it that’s going to hold up with a good lawyer. If you did, you’d have presented it by now and I'd be on my way to booking.” He sits back again and re-crosses his arms, “You got nothing and you’re not going to get anything from me because anything I say can and will be used against me.”

_ What would Alex do? How would Alex get information out of him?  _ Kara asks herself and she knows the answer, knows exactly what Alex would do but for all her loyalty to her sister she won’t hit this human (again), even if he did shoot Maggie. It’s not who she is and it’s not who she wants to be. “Maggie Sawyer is not only a detective, did you know she’s also a hero? She spends her days out on the streets fighting for justice for everyone regardless of species, race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, religion or criminal record. If you were in trouble she wouldn’t hesitate to rescue you even knowing your history. The world needs more people like her. People willing to give up everything for anyone. And right now I need your help,  I need to know what happened out there to my friend and you can help me. Start a new path for self, be your own hero.”

Rex scoffs, “The world would never label me a hero.” and then he ignores her too, blocking out her existence and dropping eye contact as he reclines in his chair. 

Supergirl pauses to take stock of his answer and plan her own before speaking, “Not with that attitude. You’re not making this any better for yourself, the longer you avoid answering us the worse this looks for you. If you were innocent you’d help, and if you’re not then at least help me and maybe I can help you; I have a lot of influence around here.” 

Galley hesitates in the observation room, looking over at her superior for direction on how to proceed, “Ma’am can she do that? Make a deal with him?”

The Captain keeps her eyes on Supergirl, her face stern and arms crossed, “I won’t let her. No matter how much the city may adore her as a beacon of justice, she’s not the voice of law for the city and I won’t let her dictate how I do my job.” Supergirl looks directly at the Captain through the glass and the Senior Sergeant looks between them in surprise, “But, if bluffing gets him to talk, I’ll let this play out.” 

“I think she heard you Captain,” Galley speaks, staring at the woman in wonder. 

“I know she did.” Alison responds, nodding her head at Supergirl once, “And she can see us too.” 

“Amazing…” Galley whispers mainly to herself, but now figures Supergirl heard her anyway. 

“They say I shot a cop, you think they’d let that slide even a millimeter?” Rex sneers, “Yeah, right, and kittens can fly.”

“I can help you but only if you let me.”

“I’m not snitchin’ on nobody.”

Supergirl takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out as she walks towards the door, “Alright then...” Galley and Alison meet her in the hallway, “how long till the results of the ballistics tests?”

“At least an hour, but what we really need to find is the second gun and the woman Sawyer mentioned to really seal the deal on this, they’re the keys to cracking this case and sending this guy away for whatever’s left-” The Captain’s phone rings and she steps away, answering it before it can complete its first ring, “Captain Alison.”

Galley turns to Supergirl, “Where will you go now?” she asks, but the hero isn’t listening to her, she’s focused on the Captain’s phone and the conversation happening, “You know it’s not polite to listen in on other people's conversations.” 

She picks up Winn’s voice telling the Captain she needs to go the hospital right away. 

  
_ Alex.  _ Supergirl’s earpiece buzzes at her as the single word passes through her mind along with a dozen theories and she answers it immediately, “Alex? Alex what’s wrong?” Galley is looking at her as though studying her, but she ignores the officer and starts walking away without so much as a goodbye, “I’m on my way!” she promises and then sprints out of the precinct before taking to the skies.


	7. Bleed It Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title and chapter inspired by the Linkin Park song Bleed it Out.  
> This chapter got oddly personal for me and I decided to rewrite most of it so uh, um, hopefully it’s better than my draft which got really intense… I'm still hesitatant about posting this one too, not sure why, but this almost never saw the light of the internet...

~ National City General Hospital ~

“I don’t get why…” Maggie’s voice slows down, thick with tiredness as she tries to finish her thought and Alex watches her fight sleep to do so, “in cartoons, a character’s heart” she struggles with the ‘s’ sounds and they quickly slur, “will start beating… out… their chest, stuff that-” her words get caught in her throat, she chokes, and then flies forward with contradictory speed and grabs the little plastic bag previously discarded on the sheets. Her stomach twists and Alex watches both her face and body contort in pain. Maggie curls over on herself, an ancient self defence mechanism to try and protect her but it doesn’t stop the searing, curling, wrench in her gut, “Oh god.” she barely breathes and holds her body tight, hoping for it all to end, _begging for it to cease,_ “Make it stop, please. Please make it stop.”

“You okay?” Alex asks, not for the obvious ‘no’ but for the details she can work with. While Maggie’s eyes clench closed she snags the bed remote and calls for the nurse, missing the tears that careen down into the pained detective’s lap.

Then, just as suddenly as it started Maggie eases up, uncoils herself and sinks back into the bed, seemingly even more drained than when the short ordeal began. Her whole body deflating and eyelids drooping she blinks slowly before barely continuing through laboured breath on a sentence Alex doesn’t remember the start of, “cos my whole-” she chokes again and Alex tries not to cringe at the gurgling sound her throat makes when she gasps for breath and still tries to speak, “body is a heart and-”

“Maggie-” she wants to tell her to save her breath, to save the words for later or tell her just what the hell is happening but nothing beyond her name makes it out.

“And it’s goin crazzz...,” she continues over Alex who stands, anxiety rising as she watches Maggie struggle when ‘crazy’ and whatever was to follow dissolve into an unintelligible slur. Alex manages to decipher just a single word; monitor. She looks towards it and Maggie stops speaking altogether after a final short, gasping, breath that wracks her body.

The numbers on the screen stun Alex into movement. _Her heart is barely pumping._ Running for the door she catches herself on its frame and she yells down the corridor to anyone on the floor, “I NEED A DOCTOR IN HERE!” and then she’s using the door frame for leverage, pushing herself away from it and running back to Maggie whose eyes have lost their focus on her, her body still and notices that her skin has taken on a paler tone, almost...blue, or grey, she isn’t sure which. She asks herself if it was like that a moment before and it frightens her more than she wants to ever admit. Alex touches her girlfriend's cheek, shocked when she finds it cold to touch, “Maggie? Maggie can you hear me? I need you to wake up, please look at me.”

She hovers the back of her hand over the detective’s mouth to feel for any air movement, holding her own breath for fear it might skew the results but she isn’t sure if there is a slight movement or not. Then just as Alex starts to lean forward, ready to breathe for Maggie with her hands on her jaw and under her head about to pinch her nose, her body jerks with a short, terrified, gasp and then falls still again.

One, two, three, four, five…

Alex immediately starts to count the time in between breaths, unease worrying her heart with the irregular rhythm and unusually long cycles. She takes Maggie’s hand in hers, “Maggie if you can hear me squeeze my hand and release it.”

Maggie's’ hand lies still and limp in hers. No response.

Eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. _Gasp!_

One… two… three- Doctor Willis bursts through the doorway and is by Maggie’s side in a second, rapidly going through a mental checklist as she checks monitors, readings, the IV line, Maggie’s forehead, her eyes.

“Her pupils are pinpoints,” Willis mumbles to herself and recognises the triad of symptoms presented to her.

Alex mind scrambles to make sense of what she’s witnessing, even with all her training, and tries her best to fill the Doctor in on what she thinks are important details, “Her speech started slurring and she was having trouble breathing it sounded like she was choking and-”

Willis slams a red button on the wall and interrupts, “Get me Naloxone now!” She looks past Alex to Joshua behind her and he darts from the room.

Alex hears the words but it doesn’t fully register with her as she continues to ramble, “She wasn’t making any sense. I called for the nurse and when I looked back her-her skin was going-” she hesitates for the briefest moment on the word and swallows, “blue and she’s so cold and-”

“Alex I need you to leave the room.” Willis speaks with a firm tone laced with urgency, she needs to be able to think if she’s going to save Maggie’s life and she can’t with the detective’s girlfriend panicking beside her. Plus, she can’t handle two critical patients in the same second; she needs Alex to be anywhere else but in this room right now for everyone's sake.

“How did this happen?” Alex voice drops to a hoarse whisper, eyes flooding with tears that quickly overflow and stream down her cheeks.

“Alex, I need you to leave.” Willis raises her voice but she still doesn’t move, Maggie’s cold hand in both of hers, “NOW!” Willis shouts, quickly scribbling onto the chart from the foot of the bed. Alex looks up at her, startled but does as she asks in a daze and moves away from Maggie’s body, “Come on Maggie, you said you weren’t going to give me any trouble,” she mumbles to herself.

Alex hears her words and it draws her attention as she backs away and hovers in the doorway to watch as the doctor moves around Maggie, lowering the bed and moving machines out of the way. A small herd of people come rushing at her with carts of equipment, ordering her to move move move! They shut the door behind them and Alex can no longer hear or see what is going on. She feels light headed and for a moment she swears the ground rises slightly. Alex stumbles back into the wall opposite the door and slides down it till she’s safely sitting on the floor, hugging her knees and crying into them.  
Behind her eyelids can she still see the off colour of Maggie’s skin, her eyes not quite fully closed, jaw slack, her slow gasping breaths tearing at her heart.

She doesn’t want to be alone and pulls out her phone, calling Kara. It doesn't even finish it's first ring and the first things she asks is; “Alex? Alex are you okay?” because while she and Maggie may not have seen eye to eye or gotten along, she knows how important Maggie is to her sister. She knows how tied Alex’s happiness is to Maggie and so Maggie’s problems have become Alex’s problem and are now her problems too. All she wants to do is help them get through this.

“I need you.” Alex knows her voice is thick with emotion, shaking even in those few words.

“I’m on my way,” Kara responds, determination steeling her voice and Alex can hear a rush of air before the call is ended.

She drops the phone beside her and closes her eyes again, dropping her head to her knees to block out the bright hallway and tries to bring her focus back to her breathing. It’s as shaky as her voice was but she finds a rhythm despite the tears steadily trekking their way along. Alex picks a memory to focus her thoughts on, a happy one in which both her and Maggie are alive, unharmed and enjoying each other’s company. She settles for their first night together and the morning after, recalling how excited she was when she woke up and found her girlfriend standing in her kitchen in one of her shirts making breakfast. Oh how she had wished for the morning to never end, revelling in her own happiness and Maggie chuckling at her like she was a lovestruck teenager. Truthfully, she had felt like one too but was so stoked to finally be enjoying intimacy, having a partner and not being forced to lie about her work. She had found the whole scene so beautiful and thrilling, her girlfriend downright adorable and gorgeous that she couldn’t resist kissing her where she stood. She had thought about dragging Maggie back to bed (or the couch, or kitchen bench…) to show her how beautiful she was, kiss each section of skin she could find with the affection bursting out of her chest. The feeling was not too dissimilar from what she was experiencing now only a deep sadness replacing affection. She wonders how much her heart has to ache before it stops altogether, almost wishes it would, but knows she has too much work to do and people who need her for the thought to really hold any weight.

“Alex?”

Alex lifts her head and scrambles to her feet and tucks her phone into her back pocket as Kara speeds down the hallway towards her, thankfully out of uniform, as Alex doubts her ability to come up with a plausible story for why Supergirl is comforting her in the hallway of palliative care. The cruel irony of the ward and Maggie’s condition is not lost on her. Alex is aware that she must look like a mess; red eyes, puffy cheeks, tears steadily trekking their way down her face, but feels it appropriate to the situation as she practically strangles Kara in a hug, thankful that her mere human strength wouldn’t be enough to harm her sister and she can hold onto her as tight as possible. But her mind keeps coming back to one thing;  _Why?_


End file.
